In a letter to St. Petersburg International film festival director Maria Averbakh declining a guest of honor invitation to the festival, Miler writes, "Thank you for your kind invitation, As someone who has enjoyed visiting Russia in the past and can also claim a degree of Russian ancestry, I would make me happy to say yes … However, as a gay man, I must decline."

In the letter — dated Wednesday and published on GLAAD's website — Miller continues, "I am deeply troubled by the current attitude toward the treatment of gay men and women in the Russian government. The situation is in no way acceptable, and I cannot in good conscience participate in a celebratory occasion hosted by a country where people like myself are being systematically denied their basic right to live and love openly."